"No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." - James Madison

Thursday, January 18, 2007

I Think This Is A Rerun, But...

...if this is true, it's either disturbing or not the whole truth. It seems like it would have been a small price to pay for the cessation of Iranian aid to Hezbollah and Hamas. Was there some sort of poison pill in the deal that caused the White House to balk at it? Or was the rejection of the deal really based on a calculus as simple-minded and stupid as "we don't talk to evil?"

This was, of course, offered by the Khatami government in 2003, so in hindsight it may not have mattered much. Khatami, then Iran's president, was a lot more friendly than A-Train; A-Train probably would have nixed the deal upon accession. But the deal could have made us look better to the Iranians and maybe prevented the political meltdown that led to A-Train's election.